In an eventful start to the fourth term of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, education minister Mewalal Choudhary of the Janata Dal (United) resigned on November 19, three days after he was sworn in to be a part of the state council of ministers.

Choudhary had to step down after the opposition party-Rashtriya Janata Dal launched criticism against the new government, asking why he was included in the cabinet even as a corruption case remains pending against him since 2017.

The criminal case against the JD(U) MLA from Tarapur pertains to alleged irregularities that had taken place in the appointment of assistant professor and junior scientists when Choudhary was the vice-chancellor of Bhagalpur agriculture university.

He had also earlier been suspended from the party when BJP, which was then in the opposition, launched criticism against the earlier government under Nitish Kumar. Even a case had been filed against Choudhary following approval from current President Ram Nath Kovind, who was then serving as the governor of Bihar. Vice-chancellors of the state universities usually report to governors, as they hold the post of chancellor for the state universities. Despite the case being filed against Choudhary, no chargesheet has been filed against him yet.

Choudhary has always maintained that mere filing of a case is not an indication of guilt. ‘There are cases against so many legislators’ has been his refrain or rather excuse, when asked about the matter. He had even refrained from mentioning the same in his election affidavit, pointing out that the probe was ongoing and nothing had happened.

The author is a student member of Amity centre of happiness